Poly ethylene-2,6-napthalene

Processes were developed in recent years in order to recover raw materials from poly(ethylene terephtalate) (PET) and polycarbonate (PC) by hydrolysis. The main focus was the recovery of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol besides other products such as benzene, salts of terephthalic acid and oxalic acid. Processes developed for PET are also valid for polyesters such as poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and poly(ethylene 2,6-napthalene dicarboxylate) (PEN). The recovery of bisphenol-A (BPA) from PC requires more sophisticated methods due to the low stability of BPA at high temperatures. Often phenol and isopropenyl phenol are obtained as degradation products of BPA. 

---